On the northeast side of Edmonton sits a warehouse. Right now it is half occupied by 630 CHED Santas Anonymous and the other half houses a fabric company’s warehouse.
As of July 1, 2018, the warehouse will be a busy hub of charitable work as the Jerry Forbes Centre for Community Spirit officially opens.
The road to the grand opening has been a long one. It all started in 2006 when the head of Santas was asked by the former Corus Radio station manager to begin finding a permanent home for the station’s Christmas charity.
Debbie Walker began working on the idea and approached the province and the City of Edmonton for funding. The province was on board, then Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel told her to think bigger than just a home for Santas Anonymous.
The idea for a collaborative home for Edmonton charities came out of that direction. Not only would these charities have a place to work, they would have access to a number of other charities’ employees with a wide range of knowledge and skills.
In 2008, the centre had found a location to build. The day they planned to announce the project was ready to move forward, the stock market crashed.
“The ability to fundraise in Edmonton dried up overnight,” executive director Max Scharfenberger said.
WATCH BELOW: A brief history of 630 CHED Santas Anonymous in Edmonton
The plan had to be put on hold until the board could find a way to come up with the money.
In 2015, a foundation member was walking his dog when he began chatting with a neighbour. He told his neighbour about the dream to build the Jerry Forbes centre.
Luckily that neighbour happened to know a guy.
Jim Ennis, president and CEO of J. Ennis Fabrics, an Edmonton based distribution company, owned a building off Wayne Gretzky Drive and Yellowhead Trail. The company was open to the idea of selling its Edmonton location while finalizing plans to move to a new building in south Edmonton.
In 2016, after 18 months of negotiations, and funding from the provincial government and the City of Edmonton, the 93,000-square-foot warehouse was sold.
The spirit of community
Forbes, the founder of 630 CHED Santas Anonymous, had a goal that no child should go without a toy at Christmas. In Santas’ first year, a few hundred children were helped — now over 25,000 kids receive toys, thanks to the generosity of Edmontonians.
It’s Forbes’ spirit the centre is trying to emulate.
The tenants of the centre will not be charged rent because the building has been bought and paid for with the government funding. Instead, they will each pay a share of the operating costs.
“When they start doing the math on it, they say, ‘Is this real? This is too good to be true,'” Scharfenberger said.
Things like utilities, security, janitorial staff and administration costs will be shared by those who work out of the centre. Those costs are expected to run about $550,000 a year.
Not only will the operating costs be shared, the hope is that the occupants’ expertise will as well.
“The whole idea is we’re going to have an open office concept with offices around the outside, workstations on the inside — to have the charities literally work together,” Scharfenberger said.
“In numbers you’re going to get a lot more accomplished than if you’re trying to each do the same thing individually.”
“If I’m having a problem, I can walk over to a desk because I know this person knows Instagram or Excel,” 630 CHED Santas Anonymous executive director Lana Nordlund said. “It’s just going to be fantastic for us all to collaborate.”
It’s a major draw for charities in the city. Scharfenberger says they’re about 80 per cent full when it comes to warehouse space, and about 40 per cent full for office space.
Many of the charities that will become tenants of the centre had temporary homes in the past. Anyone who has volunteered for Santas knows it’s a bit of an adventure figuring out where the charity has set up each year.
Watch below: 630 CHED Santas Anonymous has a storied history in Edmonton, dating back more than 60 years. Here’s a closer look at what goes into running the charity year after year.
Santas staff knew that after the busy experience of delivery weekend, they then had to get everything packed up into storage until they figured out where they were moving for the next year. That wasn’t the case after delivery weekend last year.
“It’s amazing knowing Santas is home.”
Santas isn’t the only charity whose home base was in flux. Having a permanent home is the biggest draw when it comes to moving into the centre.
“You use used furniture, you use places that you’re going to be able to be given so that your administration costs are as low as they can be, but you never know if you’re going to be told your office space is needed,” Scharfenberger said.
The charities that move into the Forbes Centre will have the advantage of a space that is fully furnished and offers offices, meeting rooms and “interactive spaces.”
“They’ll really be able to draw on expertise from other organizations in order to help them succeed in what they’re doing,” said Scharfenberger.
Building a collaborative space
J Ennis Fabrics still has a portion of the warehouse at 12122 – 68 Street, but the company is on its way out.
As its footprint gets smaller, the foundation is able to come in and make major upgrades to the building, all in the name of saving its tenants money.
LED lights will replace the existing lights, for an expected savings of $20,000 a year.
Security systems will be installed and about 40,000 square feet of warehouse space will be turned into the proposed interactive office spaces.
Scharfenberger estimates that not having to pay rent will save some of the charities up to 50 per cent of their operating costs. Take away costs like hiring a receptionist, leasing a photocopier and hiring janitorial staff, and the charities in the centre will be able to put that much more money back into the community.
630 CHED Santas Anonymous
630 CHED Santas Anonymous has been calling the centre home since late 2016. For delivery weekend 2016, the charity used about 19,000 square feet of the warehouse. As the current owner continues to move out, Santas will grow to its final footprint of about 25,000 square feet.
While the added space is needed, Nordlund is looking forward to contributing to the “community spirit” feel of the centre.
“I’m looking forward to find out where I can volunteer and what I can add to these other charities who are now going to be my neighbours.
“Enhancing what they do can only enhances Santas, because we’re in the same home now.”
Each year Santas hires seasonal staff to help carry out its mission to make sure every child in Edmonton gets a toy. Once the campaign is over, those employees are off looking for work again. Now they can network within the centre and see if there’s work with another charity that has a different busy season.
“It’s just such an exciting time for us and charities in Edmonton,” Nordlund said.
A home for charitable groups
There is still room for charities looking for space at the centre, but certain criteria must be met:
- Have non-profit (if not charitable) status
- Preference will be given to those charities in the human services field
- Organizations must be looking for office and administration space, not programming space
- Must service the Edmonton area
- Be open to innovation and collaboration with other organizations
- Invest time in the collaboration effort
- Engage volunteers
- Be fiscally sustainable
Charities that are for profit, have a strong religious affiliation or have a service that may put the other occupants in danger will not be considered.
Any charity looking to call the Jerry Forbes Centre home is asked to contact Scharfenberger.
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